Wang Shu was officially honored with architecture's most coveted recognition, <a href="http://www.pritzkerprize.com/" target="_blank">the Pritzker Prize</a>, in a ceremony in Beijing on May 25 where he was awarded with the bronze medallion and a $100,000 grant. Shu is the first Chinese architect to receive the award, and the prize marks a turning point for Shu's studio, <a href="http://www.chinese-architects.com/en/amateur/en/" target="_blank">Amateur Architecture</a>, which he runs with his wife Lu Wenyu out of Hangzhou. Responsible for a number of large cultural and social projects in his native country, Wang Shu has become known for work that is "deeply rooted in its context and yet universal." Some of Wang Shu's most well known projects include the Library of Wenzheng College at Suzhou University, the Ningbo Contemporary Art Museum, the Ningbo History Museum, phase 1 and 2 of the Xingshan Campus of the China Academy of Art, and the Vertical Courtyard Apartments. Shu is also the head of the Architecture Department of the <a href="http://eng.caa.edu.cn/default.asp" target="_blank">China Academy of Art</a>.

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Ningbo History Museum-Wang Shu

<a href="http://www.chinese-architects.com/en/amateur/en/" target="_blank">Wang Shu</a> is the first Chinese architect to be awarded with the <a href="http://www.pritzkerprize.com/" target="_blank">Pritzker Architecture Prize</a>.

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Ningbo History Museum-Wang Shu

Shu is a 48-year-old architect whose architectural practice, Amateur Architecture Studio, is based in Hangzhou.

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Ningbo Contemporary Art Museum-Wang Shu

Wang earned his first degree in architecture at the Nanjing Institute of Technology Department of Architecture in 1985, and then three years later he received his Masters Degree from the same institute.

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Ningbo Contemporary Art Museum-Wang Shu

From there he went to work for the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou doing research on the environment and architecture in relation to the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/renovation/">renovation</a> of old buildings.

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Ceramic House-Wang Shu

In 1990 he completed his first architectural work - a 3,600 square meter Youth Center in Haining, but it was not until 1997 when he and his wife, Lu Wenyu, founded their professional practice, which they named <a href="http://www.chinese-architects.com/en/amateur/en/" target="_blank">Amateur Architecture Studio</a>.

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Decay of the Dome-Wang Shu

Although he is certainly no amateur, Wang named it thus because the definition of amateur means someone who does something purely out of pleasure rather than it just being work.

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Five Sacred Houses-Wang Shu

Three years later in 2000, he completed his first major project, the Library of Wenzheng College at Suzhou University.

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Library of Wenzheng-Wang Shu

Over the next decade Wang and his firm have completed a number of large-scale projects including museums, apartment buildings, and university campuses.

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Ningbo Tengtou Pavilion-Wang Shu

The Pritzker Prize panel stated: “The fact that an architect from China has been selected by the jury, represents a significant step in acknowledging the role that China will play in the development of architectural ideals. In addition, over the coming decades China’s success at urbanization will be important to China and to the world."

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Vertical Courtyard Apts-Wang Shu

"This urbanization, like urbanization around the world, needs to be in harmony with local needs and culture. China’s unprecedented opportunities for urban planning and design will want to be in harmony with both its long and unique traditions of the past and with its future needs for sustainable development.”

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Vertical Courtyard Apts-Wang Shu

Throughout his work Wang has paid close attention to the environment, the building's relationship to its site and surroundings, and the use of materials.

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Xiangshan Campus-Wang Shu

In his project for the Xingshan Campus of the China Academy of Art, he salvaged over two million tiles from demolished traditional houses to cover the roofs of the campus buildings.

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Xiangshan Campus-Wang Shu

Since 2000, Wang Shu has been the head of the Architecture Department of the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou.

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Ningbo Museum by Wang Shu

Last year, he became the first Chinese architect to hold the position of “Kenzo Tange Visiting Professor” at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

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Ningbo Museum by Wang Shu

He has been a frequent visiting professor at UCLA, Harvard, the University of Texas, and the University of Pennsylvania.

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Tile Garden by Wang Shu

He has also received other awards including the 2004 Architecture Art Award of China, a Holcim Award for Sustainable Construction in the Asia-Pacific region, the 2010 German Schelling Architecture Prize, and the 2011 French Gold Medal from the Academy of Architecture.

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Illegal Architecture by Wang Shu

Upon learning of his award, Wang Shu said, “This is really a big surprise. I am tremendously honored to receive the Pritzker architecture Prize. I suddenly realized that I’ve done many things over the last decade. It proves that earnest hard work and persistence lead to positive outcomes.”

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Illegal Architecture by Wang Shu

Wang Shu is the first Chinese architect to be awarded with the Pritzker Prize.

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Maison C by Wang Shu

Wang Shu will receive a $100,000 grant and a bronze medallion on May 25 during the official ceremony.

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Wang Shu

Wang Shu.

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Wang Shu Wins 2012 Pritzker Prize

Wang Shu was officially honored with architecture's most coveted recognition, the Pritzker Prize, in a ceremony in Beijing on May 25 where he was awarded with the bronze medallion and a $100,000 grant. Shu is the first Chinese architect to receive the award, and the prize marks a turning point for Shu's studio, Amateur Architecture, which he runs with his wife Lu Wenyu out of Hangzhou. Responsible for a number of large cultural and social projects in his native country, Wang Shu has become known for work that is "deeply rooted in its context and yet universal." Some of Wang Shu's most well known projects include the Library of Wenzheng College at Suzhou University, the Ningbo Contemporary Art Museum, the Ningbo History Museum, phase 1 and 2 of the Xingshan Campus of the China Academy of Art, and the Vertical Courtyard Apartments. Shu is also the head of the Architecture Department of the China Academy of Art.